Job Description:
What You’ll Do
Own the quality platform: Set strategy, architecture, and standards for automation—Java today, with pragmatic evolution to modern UI/API automation where it improves reliability.
Embed quality early: Drive PR-level tests, contract/API checks, and CI/CD quality gates for rapid, trusted developer feedback.
Apply AI where it counts: Use AI/LLM-assisted test generation, self-healing locators, flake triage, and test-impact analysis to reduce toil and raise signal.
Simplify the SDLC: With DevOps, streamline pipelines, test data management, environment provisioning, and release guardrails for faster flow.
Solve hard problems with architects: Tackle cross-cutting issues (auth, data, performance, flakiness) and retire tech debt with durable solutions.
Build the right tests: Expand reliable web/UI, API, and integration coverage; harden environments and test data.
Coach and elevate: Mentor QA engineers, review automation code, and set standards for readability, reliability, and maintainability.
Measure what matters: Stand up live dashboards (coverage, pass/fail, flakiness, MTTR) to inform decisions and continuously raise the bar.
Own root cause: Lead deep-dive debugging across test and prod, driving prevention—not just fixes.
Your Toolbox (What We Use & Value)
• Languages/Frameworks: Java, JUnit, Maven; BDD with Cucumber/Gherkin.
• Automation: Selenium WebDriver (today); informed experience with Playwright (Java/TypeScript) a plus.
• CI/CD & SCM: Jenkins, GitHub Actions; GitHub for collaboration.
• Observability & Metrics: Grafana (quality and performance dashboards).
• Backend/Platform context: Spring Boot/Spring Security; Oracle DB; FileNet/content systems.
• Scripting: PowerShell or similar for utilities.
• Quality practices: Testing pyramid, risk-based design, code reviews, and environment parity.
Where We’re Headed (And Where You’ll Lead)
GitHub-native CI/CD: Standardize on GitHub pipelines for frequent, automated deployments—define branch strategy, environment promotions, and reusable workflows that make shipping safe by default.
Reliable testing for high velocity: Build a strategy that scales with cadence—PR checks, contract/API tests, fast UI smoke suites, test-impact analysis, deterministic data & ephemeral envs, parallelization, and rigorous flake control.
AI-assisted, data-driven quality: Apply LLM-assisted test generation/self-healing and enforce quality gates backed by live dashboards (coverage, flakiness, MTTR, DORA) to boost signal and confidence.
Framework evolution (tool-agnostic): Evaluate and pilot modern UI/API automation options against clear criteria (reliability, speed, parity, maintainability, ROI) and recommend phased adoption that protects delivery.
What You Bring
10+ years in QA/automation with 5+ years leading/architecting frameworks.
Proven success embedding automated quality gates into CI/CD for high-velocity releases.
Track record mentoring engineers and raising the bar on code quality and test design.
Comfort collaborating with architects and senior engineers on systemic quality problems.
Nice-To-Have
• Experience introducing AI tooling (e.g., Copilot, test-gen, self-healing) into real teams.
• Performance, security, or contract-testing exposure.
Work Setup & Logistics
Hybrid: Mostly remote; design/whiteboard sessions in Phoenix as needed.
Equipment: Personal laptop required; Windows workstation provided for remote access.
Eligibility: Must be AZ-local and able to work for any U.S. employer (no sponsorship).
Location: Phoenix, AZ (80% remote; onsite 1–3×/month)
Required Skills
3+ years in a technical leadership or lead automation engineer role. MUST have Leadership experience
Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) using Gherkin or Cucumber
JavaScript, PowerShell, Python, Bash, or Ruby experience
Experience with Spring Framework
Preferred Skills
Grafana experience
Container Architecture: Docker or Kubernetes
Experience with Azure, AWS, or GCP
Maven
AI experience
Jira
Confluence